About Me

I am retired from the Uni. of Queensland, and have numerous interests inside and outside of the uni. I play classical, bluegrass, country and folk guitar (hows that for a mix?) I am a member of the Australian Labor Party and am currently branch secretary of the Mt Coot-tha branch. I'm also involved in developing virtual reality builds and websites. Never bored!

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

On Migrants

Ausralia is a land of migrants. Unlike other countries, where people fled to escape persecution, or to gain great wealth, Australia started out as a penal colony. It was this original endeavour that more or less set the tone of the place over the 200 years or so since its inception.

Since than, people have come from all over the world to Australia: Ireland, Scotland, England, the USA, China and others as well. Different Australian colonies were settled by slightly different groups of people, mostly from the British Isles.

It wasn't an easy run by any stretch. The Irish were loathed by the English. The Asians were loathed by the whites. Everyone loathed the Aboriginal people.

Through all of this, though, the country grew and prospered -- due mostly to immigration.

The last wave was after WWII, when we took migrnts from all over Europe, much to the dismay of the Anglo-Saxon purists who had foisted the White Australia policy on the nation. But nontheless, Greeks, Italians, more English, and more recently from the Balkan states, Turkey and VietNam.

They all made Australia a multi-cultural nation, rich in its diversity and its overall ethos.

Most recently with the traumas in the Middle East, we have had a large number of immigrants from there: Jordan, Yemen, Egypt, the Gulf States, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. These settlers are primarily Muslim.

And now we have - as in the past - a pushback against immigrants, particularly by the people who feel most threatened by this latest wave, who are also aided and abetted by political bigots and rabble rousers.

The prejudice and dislike of new Australians (aka immigrants) has grown apace, and one major cause of this has been the entry of the "boat people" into Australia. This began after the Vietnam war, when thousands of fleeing Vietnamese were welcomed into Australia by the Fraser Liberal government.

The next wave was Middle Eastern refugees from the carnage what we helped cause there. Many of these refugees were stateless, arrived by boat without passports, visas or any paperwork at all. And Australia's response? John Howard's "We will decide who comes into this country..." This supposedly shut down the "boat people".

However, people smugglers were swift to move when the policies were relaxed. This brought about the Abbot government's "Stop the Boats" campaign which was a big hit with voters who were poisoned against "illegal" immigration. Amazing what a three word slogan can do if repeated often enough.

This also gave rise to the formation of the Border Force, and a Department of Homeland Security, and the development of overseas detention centres to house those unfortunate few who were caught by the border people and sent offshore to Manus Island and Nauru.

So now we have the scapegoats of boat people held for over 5 years in captivity while "legitimate" migrants are coming in by the hundreds of thousands. Ah, but wait! Our vaunted border force and their minions, such as the private mercenary army Serco, have pounced on hapless refugees who have been battling to get their permanent visas approved. One day over their visa, and they're gone.

Somehow we've got this all ass-about. We are in violation of the human rights conventions. We are very choosy on which refugees we do take legitimately. And of course, if you've got the money and connections, you get a nice first class welcome to Australia and no doubt a membership in the Liberal party.

We have been a nation of migrants and we continue to be so. The argument now becomes how many can we take and remain environmentally and economically sustainable? In the meantime our boat people still languish. It's a national disgrace.

I don't know where all this will go; will our leaders do something sensible? Will our refugees and those in our detention centres be released to re-start their lives here or elsewhere? Will our environment allow for more people? Will our infrastructure allow for more people?